Various sources of prospective student information were studied, and a small sample of graduate students, faculty, administrators, and professional association officers were interviewed in order to learn more about the information needs of prospective graduate students in the exploratory stage. Most students reported no serious information need and, in fact, indicated that formal information sources (e.g., general directories, guides to graduate study in the specific disciplines, graduate school catalogs) played a very minor role in their choice of a graduate program. The process by which prospective graduate students choose departments is reviewed, and it is concluded that geography, undergraduate faculty members, peers, and other serendipitous factors are important influences in the eventual choice of a specific graduate program. In conclusion, it is suggested that because of the graduate students' lack of sophistication at the time of application, their information needs are minimal because they do not know enough about the graduate school process to know the kinds of questions they should be asking; thus, there is a need for a larger guidance process to identify information needs. (LC)